Social networks, or social utilities that track and enable connections between users (including people, businesses, and other entities), have become prevalent in recent years. In particular, social network systems allow users to communicate information more efficiently. For example, a user may post contact information, background information, job information, hobbies, and/or other user-specific data to a location associated with the user on a social network system. Other users can then review the posted data by browsing user profiles or searching for profiles including specific data. The social network systems also allow users to associate themselves with other users, thus creating a web of connections among the users of the social network system. These connections among the users can be exploited by the website to offer more relevant information to each user in view of the users' own stated interests in their connections.
Social network systems typically incorporate a system for connecting users to content that is most likely to be relevant to each user. For example, users may be grouped according to one or more common attributes in their profiles, such as geographic location, employer, job type, age, music preferences, interests, or other attributes. Users of the social network system or external parties can then use these groups to customize or target information delivery so that information that might be of particular interest to a group can be communicated to that group. Advertisers have attempted to leverage this information about users, targeting their ads to users whose interests best align with the ads.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.